After 90 years, no more Corgiats aboard

On the first day of November, Bruce Corgiat tried to log on to the Union Pacific Railroad’s employee web page just as he’d done most other mornings. “They’d already blocked me,” he said. Wow, that was quick. On Halloween, Bruce officially retired from the railroad, as did his [...]

CP to sell west end of its DM&E line

Canadian Pacific and Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced Jan. 2 that they have executed an agreement pursuant to which CP will sell the west end of its Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern line to G&W for continued rail operations. The west end encompasses approximately 660 m [...]

Warning issued about oil shipped from N.D., Mont.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Following a string of explosive accidents, federal officials say crude oil being shipped by rail from the Northern Plains across the U.S. and Canada may be more flammable than traditional forms of oil. A safety alert issued by the U.S. Department of Transpor [...]

SMART TD office closed for New Year's holiday

The offices of the SMART Transportation Division and UTU Insurance Association will be closed Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 for the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day holidays. The officers and staff of the SMART Transportation Division and UTUIA wish the membership of the SM [...]

Oil train explodes, burns in crash with grain train

A BNSF Railway grain train derailed and crashed into a crude oil train in North Dakota Monday afternoon, Dec. 30, causing tank cars to explode in towering mushroom-cloud flames. No one was injured in the accident that happened about 2:10 p.m. near Casselton, N.D., about 25 mi [...]

FRA adjusts accident/incident reporting threshold

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published a Final Rule on Dec. 24, 2013, that increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold for 2014 from $9,900 to $10,500. This action is taken every year to ensure the figures accurately reflect cost increases [...]